The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-05-27
GENEROUS PRESCOTT.
The Great American Historians WOnde
fnI Literary Magnanimity.

The Great American Historians Wonder
ful Literary MaEnanimity.
Literary and scientific men may be
great, but they are human. Their lives,
therefore, are often full of rivalries.
and the public peace is disturbed by
their contests for precedence in dis
covery. There was, many years ago,
a warm controversy between several
claimants of the honor of discovering
the fact that inhaling sulphuric ether
would mitigate or annihilate pain. The
dispute was revived when a benevolent
gentleman announced his intention Of
erecting a monument in the Boston
Public Garden in honor of the benefi-
cent discovery. WhereupOn, a wit
suggested in one of the newspapers
that all the claimants should be repre-
scented on the sides of the monument,
while over them all, in letters of gold,
should be written the word EITHER. "
The pun made the town laugh, and
no serious controversy was possible
afterward.
Mr.. Whipple introduces this anec-
dote in his biographical essay on ''MOt-
lev, the Historian" to set forth the
singular freedom of w. II. Prescott
from the besetting sin of men of letters.
After Motley had matured his plans for
writing history of the Dutch Repub-
lie, he learned that Prescott had made
large preparations for writing the
''History of Philip the Second of Spain,
though his History of the Conquest OF
Peru" had not yet been published.
Prescott was then the most popular OF
American historians; Motley was
known only as the author of two I'M
successful novels. He called upon Pres
| colt, unfolded to him his plans, and in
dictated the points where the historian
| of The Rise of the Dutch Republic
would cross the path of the historian OF
s,Philip the Second" He then ex-
| pressed his W illingness to abandon his
project rather than interfere with Pres
colts intended work. The genial
Prescott, incapable of envy, assured
| Motley that the two books would not
! iniure each other, and then warm ly en-
| couraged him to carry out his work,
telling him that he was at liberty to
/ take home all the books in his pres
cott's) library bearing upon the sub
| ject.
Had the result of that interview
J said Motley, 'been different; had he
/ distinctly stated, or even vaguely
limited, that it would be as well if
should select some other topic; or had
he sprinkled me with the cold water OF
conventional and commonplace eli.
enlargement, l should have gone from
him with a chill upon my mind, and nc
doubt have laid down the pen at once. .
But Prescott even crowned his
, literary magnanimity by calling atten
ton. i'm his preface to the History ~
Philip the Second. to the forthcoming
work of Motley, and that, too, with
| generous praise of his brother historian
Prescott did not live to complete hi:
work, but if he had lived as long a,
the Patriarchs, he could have added
nothing to the purity and generosity
of his literary character. He, thu
most popular of American historians
whose works readers in Europe anC
America were eager To receive, an
nOunces to them, with words which an
ticipates his brothers fame, that the,
will soon have the pleasure of reading
from another historian a more minut'
account of the revolt of the Neither
lands than he had given, because
was but an episode of his history
Motley could never speak of his brothe
historians disinterestedness withou
deep emotion. He felt the amiabl,
heart and the stainless purity of Pres
colt to be something which should b
reverenced. - Youths Companion.